JPS629486A - Ic card reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure good contact between each contact terminal and the corresponding integrated circuit IC card contact, by using a conductive material having elasticity for the contact terminal itself. CONSTITUTION:A pair of contact terminals 33 are made of two sheets of contact terminal plates of the same form and a pair of contact terminals 34 are also made of two terminal plates of the same form. These terminals 33 and 34 are made of conductive material and elasticity is secured for the contact terminal itself in its width direction by reducing the dimensional ratio of the width direction with respect to the plate thickness. An IC card 35 is put into a card storing part 16 through a card slit and an information signal is transferred to the card 35 in a stage where the corresponding contact parts 33b and 34b of terminals 33 and 34 are pressed against each card contact 35a. The terminals 33 and 34 are brought into contact with the contacts 35a independently and with their own elastic force. Thus the terminals 33 and 34 have goods contacts with the corresponding contacts 35a of the card 35 despite the presence of the warp, bend, etc. of the card 35. This improves the contact reliability between terminals 33 and 34 and contacts 35s respectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an IC card reader, and in particular,
This invention relates to the structure of a contact terminal with an IC card contact.

(Conventional technology) IC card readers are ICs with embedded memory and CPU.
Information signals are sent and received to and from the card via a plurality of contact terminals. In such an IC card reader, it is necessary to devise a structure of the contact terminals so that all the contact terminals can make good contact with all the multiple contact points of the IC card, which is made thin and tends to warp or bend. .

Therefore, in conventional IC card readers, a plurality of contact terminals are arranged to correspond to the arrangement of contacts on the IC card side, and each contact terminal is provided so that it can be moved independently, and each contact terminal is individually coiled. It was pressed against the card side by a biasing means such as a spring.

The one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-22794 is one of them.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) According to the conventional IC card reader, a plurality of contact terminals are individually energized by a energizing means, which increases the number of parts and makes the structure complicated. Become.

In view of the above-mentioned problems of the conventional IC card reader, the present invention provides an IC card reader that can simplify the structure of the contact terminal that contacts the contacts of the IC card and that requires fewer parts. The purpose is to provide.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides an IC card reader that has a contact terminal held by a contact terminal holding member and that sends and receives information signals by bringing the contact terminal into contact with a contact point of an IC card. The contact terminal itself is formed of an elastic conductive material.

(Function) When the contact terminals are pressed against the contacts of the IC card, each contact terminal bends due to its own elasticity in accordance with the warping or bending of the IC card, and each contact terminal is firmly attached to the contacts of the corresponding IC card. Contact.

(Example) In FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 is a frame forming the base of the card reader, and a plate 3 is fixed at a predetermined interval on the lower surface side of this frame 1. A card insertion hole 2 into which an IC card 35 is to be inserted between the frame 1 and the plate 3 is formed at the front end (right end in the figure) of the frame 1 and the plate 3. plate 3
forms the reference surface against which the IC card 35 is pressed. Frame 1
The space between and the plate 3 serves as a card storage section 16. A cover 4 that covers almost the entire frame 1 is fixed to the upper part of the frame 1. However, the depiction of the cover 4 is omitted in FIGS. 1 and 2 to avoid complication in the drawings.

A pair of guide grooves 1a and 1a are formed in the frame 1 in the direction in which the IC card 35 is inserted. This guide groove 1
aSla has a pair of hooks 5d and 5d at the end of the arms of the carrier 5.
is fitted, and one arm of the carrier 5 is attached to the frame 1.
By being pressed by the guide portion 1b of the guide groove 1a, the carrier 5 is attached so as to be movable in the direction of the force. As shown in FIG.
The hook portions 5d, 5d penetrate through the card storage portion 16 and reach the guide groove 3a of the plate 3.
, 5d on the front side ("right side in the figure)" 5a, 5a
is a card engaging surface against which the leading end surface of the IC card 35 inserted into the card storage section 16 should come into contact. Therefore,
The IC card 35 is inserted into the card storage section 16 from the card insertion hole 2.
When the IC card 35 is inserted, the IC card 35 engages with the engaging surfaces 5a, 5a.
If the IC card 35 is pushed in even further, the carrier 5 will be pushed toward the back.

A spring 6 is applied between the spring hook part 5e of the carrier 5 and the spring hook part 1e of the frame l, and the elasticity of the spring 6 causes the carrier 5 to move in the direction in which the IC card 35 is ejected from the card insertion hole 2. Forced to move. Also,
A spring 7 is hung between the spring hook part 5f of the carrier 5 and the spring hook part 9f of the stopper 9, and the elasticity of the spring 7 biases the carrier 5 and the stopper 9 in a direction that attracts each other. Relative movement between the carrier 5 and the stopper 9 due to the biasing force is restricted by the contact between the protrusion 5h and the step shaft of the stopper 9.

The stopper 9 is provided along one side of the frame 1, and the bent portion 9g formed at the rear end of the stopper 9 fits into the guide groove If of the frame 1. By fitting the groove 9h into the guide protrusion 1g formed on the frame 1, the stopper 9 is inserted into the IC card 3.
It is provided movably in the insertion direction of 5. Stopper 9
is urged to move inward by the elasticity of the spring 7, but normally, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tip bent portion 15a of the lever 15 is attached to the engaging portion 9b. By engaging, movement in the biasing direction is prevented. The engaging portion 9b of the stopper 9 is formed in a protrusion shape on one side edge of the longitudinal slit-shaped hole 91, and a step-like engaging portion is formed at a constant interval toward the front side from the engaging portion 9b. 9c
Further, a protruding engaging portion 9k is formed at the other side edge of the hole 91 at an intermediate portion between the engaging portions 9b and 9c. The stopper 9 also has a cut-and-raised support piece 9a formed on its inner edge, and a cut-and-raised part 9d having an inclined surface 91 at a predetermined distance from the support piece 9a. .

The lever 15 is formed in the shape of a bell crank and is rotatably supported around a shaft 26. The bent portion 15a at the end of one arm of the lever 15 fits into the hole 91 of the stopper 9. The other arm end of the lever 15 is a fork portion 15b, and a pin 27 fixed to the plunger 20, which is moved by the solenoid 19, is fitted into the fork portion 15b. The solenoid 19 is excited based on detection signals from the two photosensors 18 and 24. The photosensors 18 and 24 each consist of a light emitting part and a light receiving part arranged apart from each other, and when the carrier 5 is moved to the innermost edge, the detected part 17 at the innermost end blocks the optical path of the photosensor 18. This causes the sensor 18 to perform a detection operation, and when the eject button 23 is pushed inward from the outside, the detected portion 23a integrated with the eject button 23 blocks the optical path of the sensor 24, causing the sensor 24 to detect the eject button 23. It is designed to take action. , the solenoid 19 is excited by the detection operation of the photosensor 18 or photosensor 24 and attracts the plunger 20, and this attraction operation causes the pin 27 to
The lever 15 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. ing. When the solenoid 19 is demagnetized, the plunger 20 and the lever 15 are returned to their original positions by the stored force of the spring provided in the plunger 20.

Immediately before the pin 27 fixed through the plunger 20,
A bent portion 22a at the far end of the manual lever 22, which is movable in the front-rear direction along the guide portion 1h of the frame 1, is located. A bent portion 22b at the front end of the manual lever 22 faces a small hole 11 formed in the front panel portion of the frame 1.

When a small rod-shaped member such as a pin is inserted through this small hole 1i and the bent part 22b is pushed to the back, the manual lever 22 moves to the back, the bent part 22a pushes the pin 27, and the solenoid 19 is energized. The same operation as in case 8 can be performed. The manual lever 22 is used to manually take out the IC card 35 in the event of a power outage or failure of the solenoid 19.

A pair of fulcrum portions 10S10 are protruded from the rear of the frame I, and a lock plate 8 is attached to this fulcrum portion 10.10.
- holes 8b, 8b are loosely fitted. The lock plate 8 is formed into a frame shape by forming a thick window hole 8c,
One side of the rear end near the holes 8b, 8b forming portion is lightly pressed by a pressing plate 28 screwed onto the frame 1 to prevent the locking plate 8 from being removed.

The lock plate 8 can pivot in the vertical direction about the fulcrum portion 10.10. The base of a leaf spring 30 is fixed to the lock plate 8 at one side on the near side. The board bone 30 has two arms 30a, 30a;
The free end portion of the cover 4 is pressed against the printed circuit board 21 fixed to the lower surface of the cover 4, thereby urging the lock plate 8 to rotate downward, that is, to rotate clockwise in FIG. are doing. A pair of locking pieces 11.11 are bent at the front end of the lock plate 8.

This locking piece 11.11 is for closing the card insertion hole 2 and positioning the inserted IC card 35, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the lock plate 8
When rotated in the spring biasing direction, the holes 1j, 1j formed in the frame 1 and the holes 3b formed in the plate 3,
The locking piece 11.11 is fitted into the card storage portion 1.
The IC card 35 inserted into the slot 6 is prevented from being ejected.

A pair of support parts A and B are provided on both sides of the lock plate 8 in a protruding manner. The support part A is a support piece 5b formed upwardly on one side edge of the carrier 5 with a certain length in the front-rear direction.
The support part B is on the short support piece 9a of the stopper 9.
It's on top. Projections 8d, 8d are formed at opposing positions on both side edges of the window hole 8c of the lock plate 8, and a connecting portion 8e connects the projections 8d, 8d.
is formed.

An electrically insulating guide piece 12 made of, for example, synthetic resin is fitted into this connecting portion 8e. On this guide piece 12, the lower surfaces of four pairs of contact terminals 33 and four pairs of contact terminals 34 near the tips are placed.

In FIGS. 1, 7, and 9, a pair of contact terminals 33 is formed by two contact terminal plates of the same shape, and a pair of contact terminals 34 is also formed of two terminal plates of the same shape. , the contact terminal 33 is formed shorter than the contact terminal 34.

Each contact terminal 33,34 is made of electrically conductive material and
By forming a portion having a relatively small ratio of the widthwise dimension to the plate thickness, the contact terminal itself is made to have elasticity in its widthwise direction (in the vertical direction in the figure). A pair of contact terminals 3
Whereas the two terminal boards forming 3 are directly stacked,
The two terminal boards forming the pair of contact terminals 34 are arranged so as to sandwich the pair of contact terminals 33 with an insulating plate 25 having substantially the same shape as the contact terminals 33 interposed therebetween.
3, electrically insulated. Each contact terminal 33.3
The terminal plates constituting 4 have their tip portions protruding downward and contact portions 33b and 3 with corresponding contacts of the IC card 35, respectively.
It is 4b. The tip portions of the pair of contact terminals 34.34 are bent horizontally to form both contact portions 34b.
, 34b overlap.

Four contact terminal sets each consisting of a pair of contact terminals 33 and a pair of contact terminals 34 are provided, and each contact terminal set is attached to an electrically insulating contact terminal holding member (hereinafter referred to as "holder") 14 made of synthetic resin or the like. The holding portions 33c, 34 of each contact terminal 33, 34 are respectively stored in the four holding grooves 14a formed.
c is held by the holder 14. The holder 14 is held by the cover 4 via the printed circuit board 21. Each contact terminal 33 and each contact terminal 34 have a protruding signal terminal portion 33a, 34a, respectively, and these terminal portions 33a, 34a are soldered to a predetermined wiring pattern portion of the printed circuit board 21, and are Contact terminals 33, 34 are finally integrated.

Contact portions 33b, 3 of holder 14 and contact terminals 33.34
The tip portion including 4b protrudes downward from the window hole 8c of the lock plate 8, and further extends from the contact portions 33b, 34 of the contact terminals 33.34.
b passes through frame 1. Each contact terminal 33 and each contact terminal 34 have a tendency that their contact portions 33b, 34b tend to advance into the card storage portion 16 due to their own elastic force, but as shown in FIGS. In the normal state as shown in FIG. 7, the support parts A and B of the lock plate 8 ride on the support piece 5b of the carrier 5 and the support piece 9a of the stopper 9, respectively, so that the lock plate 8 is attached to the leaf spring 30. The guide piece 12 is rotated upward against the force, and accordingly the guide piece 12 moves upward and pushes up the contact terminals 33 and 34 against its own elasticity, thereby pushing the contact parts 33b and 34b into the card storage part 16. It is evacuated upward. This contact portion 33
In the raised position of b, 34b, protrusions 33d, 3 protrude downward at positions near the base end of each contact terminal 33.34.
4d comes into contact with the regulating portion 14b of the holder 14, thereby regulating the position of the contact terminals 33, 34 and preventing them from falling.

In FIG. 7, the card insertion hole 2 (lII) of the holder 14 is shown.
A leaf spring 29 is fixed to the lower surface of J via a spacer. A part of the free end side of the leaf spring 29 is located in the card storage section 16.
When the IC card 35 is inserted into the card storage section 16, the leaf spring 29 comes into contact with the contacts 35a of the IC card 35 to remove static electricity from the RC card 35.

1 and 4, the lock plate 8 has an engaging portion 8a formed by partially bending a protrusion on the side where the stopper 9 is disposed. On the other hand, the stopper 9 has a protrusion 9e formed on the lower side of the spring hook portion 9f. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, this protrusion 9e rotates in the direction in which the lock plate 8 is biased by the leaf spring 30.
In addition, the engaging portion 9c of the stopper 9 is connected to the bent portion 1 of the lever 15.
5a, the engaging portion 8a is pressed down from above to reliably maintain the rotational position of the locking plate 8.

In FIG. 1, a leaf spring 31 is fixed to the frame 1 on the side where the stopper 9 is attached. The free end portion of the leaf spring 31 extends into the card storage portion 16, and the free end portion of the leaf spring 31 extends into the card storage portion 16.
By pressing one side of the IC card 35 inserted into the IC card 6, the other side of the IC card 35 is pressed against the reference surface of the card storage section 16.

In FIG. 1, an indicator lamp 32 is attached to the inner side of the eject button 23, and lights up to indicate that the card reader is in operation so that it can be seen from the outside. .

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

1, 4 and 7 show the support part A of the lock plate 8,
B is supported by the support piece 5b of the carrier 5 and the support piece 9a of the stopper 9, respectively, and the lock plate 8 rotates against the elasticity of the leaf spring 30, and the pair of locking portions 11.B of the lock plate 8 rotate.
11 and the contact portions 33b and 34 of the contact terminals 33 and 34
b shows a normal state where the card is retracted above the card storage section 16. At this time, the stopper 9 moves to the front side (right side in the figure) and engages the bent portion 15 of the lever 15 in the engaging portion 9b.
a is engaged.

Now, when the IC card 35 is inserted into the card storage part 16 from the card insertion hole 2 in a predetermined direction into the card reader in the normal state, the tip of the IC card 35 engages with the pair of cards in the carrier 5. It hits surfaces 5a, 5a. If the IC card 35 is pushed in further, the carrier 5 will spring 6.
You can move to the back while accumulating 7. Although the stopper 9 is urged to move inward by the stored force of the spring 7, the bent part 15a of the lever 15 is engaged with the engaging part 9b, so the stopper 9 cannot be moved.

As the carrier 5 moves with the insertion of the IC card 35, its support portion 5b eventually escapes from the support portion A of the lock plate 8. However, since the support portion B of the lock plate 8 is cantilever-supported in place by the support piece 9a of the stopper 9, the lock plate 8 cannot be rotated in the biasing direction by the leaf spring 30. When the carrier 5 moves to the deepest position with the insertion of the IC card 35, the detected portion 17 enters the optical path of the photosensor 18, and the solenoid 19 is excited by the detection signal of the sensor 18. Due to the excitation of the solenoid 19, the lever 15 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG.
5a and the engaging portion 9b of the stopper 9 are disengaged, and the stopper 9 moves slightly inward due to the biasing force of the spring 7, and the engaging portion 9 is engaged with the bent portion 15a of the lever 15. The movement is once blocked, and then the solenoid 19 is demagnetized and the lever 15 is returned to its original position, causing the lever 15 to move slightly further inward, and then being blocked by the engagement between the engaging portion 9C and the bent portion 15a of the lever 15. Ru.

By this movement of the stopper 9, FIGS. 2, 5 and 8
As shown in the figure, the support piece 9a escapes from the support part B of the lock plate 8 and the support of the opening plate 8 is released, so the lock plate 8 rotates in the biasing direction by the leaf spring 30. . At this point, the IC card 35 is attached to the locking portion 11.1 of the lock plate 8.
The locking portions 11.11 of the rotated opening 7 and the plate 8 fit into the holes 1j of the frame 1 and the holes 3b of the plate 3, and the IC card 35 is Block the discharge passage.

The above rotation of the lock plate 8 causes the guide piece 12 to escape downward from the contact terminal 33.34, and the free end of the contact terminal 33.34 moves downward due to its own elastic force.
Contact portion 33b of pair of contact terminals 33 and four pairs of contact terminals 3
The four contact portions 34b are in pressure contact with the corresponding contacts 35a of the IC card 35, respectively. When the pushing force of the IC card 35 is released, the carrier 5 will hold the IC card due to the accumulated force of the spring 6.7.
Although the card 35 attempts to move in the ejection direction, the front end surface of the IC card 35 is stuck at the locking portion 11.11 of the lock plate 8.
By coming into contact with the IC card 35, the return of the IC card 35 and the carrier 5 is prevented, and the IC card 35 is positioned at the recording/reproducing position.

An overstroke L is provided so that the IC card 35 returns to a certain extent after the IC card 35 is pushed to the deepest position until it reaches the recording/reproducing position as shown in FIG. By doing this, the contacts 35a of the IC card 35
The contact portions 33b and 34b of the contact terminals 33 and 34
The card contact 35a can be relatively moved by the overstroke L while being in pressure contact with each other, and the cleaning effect of the contact portion between the contact portions 33b and 34b of the contact terminals 33 and 34 and the card contact 35a can be evaluated.

In this way, each force f is applied to each contact terminal 33 for each contact 35a.
．． The corresponding Fik parts 33b and 34b of 34 send and receive information signals to and from the IC card 35 while being in pressure contact with each other. Since each contact terminal 33, 34 is individually and independently pressed against the card contact 35a by its own elasticity, if the IC card 3
Even if there is a warp or bend in each contact terminal 33,
．． 34 can make good contact with the corresponding contacts 35a of the IC card 35. In addition, each contact terminal 33, 34 is made of two terminal boards as a pair, and each terminal board contacts the corresponding card contact 35a individually, so the card contact 35a
The reliability of contact between the contact terminals 33 and 34 can be improved.

In the recording and reproducing position, the slight movement of the stopper 9 causes its protrusion 9e to press the engaging portion 8a of the lock plate 8 from above, thereby preventing the lock plate 8 from being opened during recording and reproduction. .

The IC card $5 is ejected by operating the eject button 23. When the eject button 23 is pressed from the outside,
The detected portion 23a integrated with the eject button 23 blocks the optical path of the photosensor 24, and the sensor 24 performs a detection operation. The solenoid 19 is energized again by the detection signal of the sensor 24, and the lever 15 is rotated via the plunger 20 and the pin 27, and the bent portion 15a of the lever 15 is disengaged from the engagement portion 9c of the stopper 9. It moves to the back due to the stored force of spring 7. As the stopper 9 moves, the inclined surface 91 of the cut-and-raised portion 9d pushes up the support portion B of the lock plate 8, causing the lock plate 8 to rotate upwardly against the leaf spring 30. IL 11 escapes upward from holes 3b and 1j in plate 3 and frame l, and IC card 3
Open the discharge passage No.5. As the lock plate 8 is further rotated, the support side A of the lock plate 8 escapes above the support piece 5b of the carrier 5, and the carrier 5 attempts to return to its original position due to the stored force of the spring 6. 3 and 6 show the state immediately before the carrier 5 is about to return. Due to the rotation of the lock plate 8, the contact terminals 33, 34 are lifted by the guide piece 12 against their own elasticity, and the contact portions 33b, 34b are separated from the contacts 35a of the IC card 35.

With the return of the carrier 5, the card engaging surface 5 of the carrier 5
The IC card 35 is ejected by a and 5a.

Further, due to the return operation of the carrier 5, its protrusion 5h pushes the stepped portion 9m of the stopper 9, and the stopper 9 is returned to its original state as shown in FIG. At the final stage of the return of the stopper 9, the bent portion 15a of the lever 15 passes over the slope of the engaging portion 9b of the stopper 9, and the bent portion 15a engages with the engaging portion 9b.

If the IC card 35 cannot be ejected even if the eject button 23 is pressed due to a power outage during recording/playback or a failure of the solenoid 19, etc., insert a pin etc. into the small hole 11 of the frame 1 and remove the bent part of the manual lever 22. By pressing 33b, the IC card 35 can be ejected by performing the same operation as when the solenoid 19 is energized, as described above.

In the above embodiment, two types of contact terminals 33. of different lengths are used.
34 is used, and the short contact terminals 33 are arranged so as to be sandwiched between the long contact terminals 34, so that two contact terminals are in contact with one card contact, increasing the reliability of the contact and making the contact terminals more flexible. It is possible to reduce the space occupied by the However, this arrangement of the contact terminals is not essential to the present invention, and a different arrangement may be used, or only one contact terminal may be in contact with one card contact.

FIGS. 1O and 11 show other examples of contact terminals applicable to the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 1O, a box-shaped holder 45 is fixed to the lower surface of the printed circuit board 21 fixed to the lower surface of the cover 4, and inside the holder 45, an elastic conductive plate is punched out in a symmetrical wave shape. The contact terminal 46 is stored,
Partial lower end contact portions 46a, 46 of the contact terminal 46
a is made to protrude through the hole 45a of the holder 45. The contact terminals 46 are punched out in a wavy shape, so that they themselves have elasticity, and this elasticity allows the contact portions 46a, 46a to
is pressed against the contact 35a of the IC card 35. contact terminal 4
The upper end protrusion 46b of 6 is soldered to the printed circuit board 21. Such a contact terminal is the contact point 35 of the IC card 35.
They are provided corresponding to the number of a. In this embodiment as well, the contact portions 46a and 46a are brought into pressure contact with the card contact 35a independently by elastic force. Other effects similar to those of the embodiment described above are obtained.

In the example shown in FIG. 11, the contact terminal is not made of a plate material (it is an example made of a bar material, and an elastic conductive bar material is bent into a U-shape to form the contact terminal 48, and the U-shaped The two free ends 43a and 48a of the contact terminal 48 are connected to the card contact 3.
5a, and the base end 48b of the contact terminal 48.
is held by a holder (not shown). This embodiment also provides the same effects as the previous embodiment.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, since the contact terminal itself is formed of an elastic conductive material, there is no need for a biasing means such as a coil spring that biases each contact terminal individually. The structure of the parts is simplified and the number of parts is reduced. In addition, since the structure of the contact terminal is simplified, it is possible to arrange multiple terminals in close proximity, and it is also possible to have multiple terminals contacting one card contact, which improves the reliability of the contact. It is also possible to increase the

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing different operating modes of the same embodiment with some parts omitted, and FIG.
The figure is a plan view showing a further different operating mode of the above embodiment according to FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a partially sectional side view showing an operating mode corresponding to FIG. 1 of the above embodiment, and FIG. 5 is the same. FIG. 6 is a partially sectional side view showing the operating mode corresponding to FIG. 2; FIG. 6 is a partially sectional side view showing the operating mode corresponding to FIG. 3;
FIG. 7 shows a fourth operating mode corresponding to FIG. 1 of the above embodiment.
8 is a partially sectional side view taken along a line different from that shown in the figure; FIG. 8 is a partially sectional side view showing the operating mode corresponding to FIG. 2 of the above embodiment in accordance with FIG. 7; and FIG. FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the contact terminal portion in the embodiment; FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional side view showing another example of the contact terminal applicable to the present invention; FIG.
The figure is a perspective view showing still another example of a contact terminal applicable to the present invention. 14--Contact terminal holding member, 33. 34--Contact terminal, 35-IC card, 35a--Contact, 45-
- Contact terminal holding member, 46... Contact terminal, 48-
・Contact terminal.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an IC card reader that has a contact terminal held by a contact terminal holding member and sends and receives information signals by bringing the contact terminal into contact with a contact point of an IC card, the contact terminal itself is made of an elastic conductive material. An IC card reader characterized by being formed with.